Looks like I may have to end up getting an eGPU for Dragonflight? Currently running on a 2019 iMac, 27" Retina 5K, 3.6 GHz 8-core Intel core i9. 32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4, Radeon Pro Vega 48 8G.
Wondering if that graphics card is causing my constant lock up problems. I’m not replacing a 3 year old computer, but I have been looking at the eGPU option.
Does anyone else with more tech knowledge than I do have any experience using something like this to make the game run better? TIA!
You will be best served by trolling the Apple forums/support for eGPU information.
The solution may be a Razer Core X eGPU with an AMD 6800 card running a 2k or 4k gaming monitor leaving the problematic Thunderbolt monitor out of the mix.
Lock up? What exactly is happening. That Vega should be more than fine for 1080p or 1440p with medium settings if not bit more.
The game freezes as soon as I enter the Dragonflight areas of the game. Spinning beachball that never ends and I have to force quit the game. I have tried on multiple characters, fresh characters, copied characters. Runs beautifully until I enter the new area. I have even turned the settings down and it still freezes. Sounds continue to run, all video is frozen. The Radeon Pro Vega 48 is below the required specs they have entered for Dragonflight, but I was hoping to squeak by. Looks like that may not happen.
It’s above iGPUs so it is above minimal requirements. What you are describing is rather some sort of a bug rather than GPU having problems. Check your install, check how much free space the drive has.
Did you by chance click the Play button while the game data was still downloading?
Is vsync turned off?
turning off vsync will cause constantly freezing on metal due to how poorly it handles having vsync off. metal doesn’t intend for it ever to be off. I wish blizzard would just remove ability to turn it off since apple doesn’t want it off and it’s just a bait and trap for performance and issues.
I have the same exact computer (only difference is mine has 16 vs 32GB RAM) and I’ve been having issues with constant GPU resets (sometimes 15 or more in a row) and freezing/crashing in Hearthstone battlegrounds for the past couple months and at certain spots in WoW (some frequent ones include the Ember Court tea area, when I’m LOSing on the KUJO fight in Workshop, or killing trogs on the first boss in Junkyard, although sometimes it’s fine there). The issue is far more frequent on HS, but I have not tested DF so I’m a bit nervous based on your experience.
Sometimes, I can hear the sound of the game in the background like you describe, but the image is frozen, sometimes it will come back on it’s own if I’m patient (typically the case in WoW), sometimes I have to force quit the game (more typical in Hearthstone). Only once was the game window (not the full monitor) colored red, and once there was artifacting on the primary and secondary monitor during the crash.
I’ve worked with AppleCare and I tested many things like unplugging all peripherals while playing for a few days, repairing the disk, resetting VRAM/PRAM, reinstalling the OS and all games from scratch without restoring any data that may be corrupted. They think the issue is hardware related based on the fact that the issue was not resolving with those tests, so the next step is to drive to the Apple store and send off my computer for them to replace the processor/graphics card/etc.
Considering the issue was occurring in more than one game (I also experienced red screens in EVE Online in highly populated zones) and the issue only started in Spring this year, the hardware failure is what we are going to look at next, even though the diagnostic looks good. They wanted to send me an eGPU to test while using that, but they didn’t have any spare ones to send my way.
Considering I can play Hearthstone without the GPU freezes on my 16" 2020 MacBook Pro, it is possible that can support that the hardware is failing on the iMac, although the MBP is also on an older OS and using a smaller screen, so there are too many variables to test personally. I had also tested using a scaled down windowed mode on very low settings in Hearthstone on the iMac and that didn’t help. If the hardware replacement doesn’t help, then maybe there is an issue with the OS itself or something else. Mine is currently up to date.
Based on comments, above, I haven’t clicked play while downloading data, and my vsync is always turned on (looks horrible otherwise). I do completely close BN launcher while playing all games. I have plenty hard drive space as well.
If you have any updates regarding your situation, please let us know! I will try to come back once I am able to give up my computer for several days and lug the big thing to the Apple store.
I never hit the “Play” button until all downloads are complete and the “reclaiming disc space” has completed.
I do have VSync turned on, but just noticed that my graphics card was set to “auto-detect” this time. I selected my card and it is working great for now. Just used dragon riding to get to a new area, have accepted quests (I’ve been playing on my husband’s PC). So I’m going to give it a go.
As a side note, I see that “ray traced shadows” has only one option - all the others are “Unsupported on macOS”. I will see how this runs for a little while now. Happy to be back on my own computer for now - funny how we get settled in to our own set ups 
Quick edit: The mini map player icon still isn’t there. Didn’t realize HOW MUCH I relied on that when navigating. Hope that becomes a priority soon.
One more edit: Was going great until I got to Timberstep Outpost, now I can’t move more than a few feet and the game locks up exactly the same. Sounds are running in the background, but video has completely stopped.
I have a 2TB drive with 1.17 TB available if that is what you are referring to.